The body of Oded Lifshitz, H’yd, 84, was identified at Abu Kabir on Thursday afternoon, only several hours after the bodies were received. Family members published a statement expressing their grief: “We received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news of the identification of the body of our beloved Oded. 503 tormenting days of uncertainty have come to an end. We hoped and davened that the end would be different.” The family added: “Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who we’ve missed since 10/07. Our family rehabilitation will begin now and will not end until the return of the last hostage.” Oded was abducted along with his wife Yocheved from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yocheved was released from captivity on October 23. He was a much-beloved father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was an Israeli journalist and social activist, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, and worked for many years as a journalist. He served in the IDF as a soldier in the Paratroopers Nachal Brigade and fought in the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, and the First Lebanon War. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)